AMERICA'S INDUSTRIAL SUPREMACY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7330, 17 February 1902, Page 1

AMERICA'S INDUSTRIAL SUPREMACY.

, (Baltimore American.) The industrial supremacy of the United States is attracting more attention abroad every month, and foreign editors and speakers, who a few years ago thought what t<his country was doing was of such little moment that it was rarely referred to in, a serious .manner, are now discussing the subject from every point of view, and seeking to get at the causes. The enormous resources of thy country, of course, give the United States a great lead, but it is the efficiency of labour that is startling the foreigners. v . Among the causes that contribute to this is the greater sobriety of the American working man. Colonel Carroll D. Wright, of the United States Labour Bureau, has found that more than 75 per cent of those who employ skilled labour require total abstinence of their men, and' that this is also demanded by at least 50 per cent of those who employ labour that is- not skilled. The necessity for keeping the. head clear and the hand steady has made a powerful impression upon our working men, and this impression, the men themselves declare, has been deepened since their children have learned in the pubiic schools the effect upon the body of alcoholic drinks. The children talk at home about what they learn in the schools, and the heads of the families listen and learn. • The American working man, it has also been found, is more ambitious than those abroad. He has a desire to get on in the world, and his wages being higher than anywhere else, the incentive to save is great. Having a "stake in the country" in the shape of a house and lot, or a, small farm, mokes a. powerful appeaL to fch© American working man. An English speaker, addressing an assembly ia ids own land, said not long ago: " America spends money in educating the brains of its people, while we.Tiave been lavish in poisoning them,'- the allusion being to the great quantity of liquor consumed by the English working man in with those in this country.